The Dreamweaver Site panel enables you to work with your files in the same way that you would with the Resource Window and Resources Tabs in HomeSite. With the Site panel you can manage files and folders in your site, or use the integrated file browser to access to your local disk and network. A Dreamweaver site is similar to a HomeSite project (for more information about Dreamweaver sites, see Setting up a Dreamweaver site).

The main difference between the Site panel and the Resource window is that in the Site panel you view all your files and folders in the same window—there are no tabs to switch drives or projects.

Note: Dreamweaver does not have Resource tabs to switch drives and projects, but it does have feature-equivalents of the other tabs in the HomeSite Resource window. The Site View equivalent, the Site map, is described in this section. Snippets, Resources, and the Tag Inspector are discussed in Using the Dreamweaver coding features.

You can expand the Site panel to show two views (local, remote, or testing) of the current site, or you can collapse it to a single pane for one view of your site. Although you can have different views of a site showing, you view only one site at a time in the Site panel. The name of the current site appears in the Site pop-up menu. Below the current site, in the Local view, the Computer icon represents the integrated file browser.

In expanded mode, the Site panel has an equivalent to the HomeSite Site View, called the Site map. The Site map enables you to view a local folder for a Dreamweaver site as a visual map of linked icons. You can use the Site map to add new files to a Dreamweaver site, or to add, modify, or remove links. For more information about using the Site map feature, see Dreamweaver Help (Help > Using Dreamweaver).

To open or close the Site panel:

Choose Window > Site or press F8.

To expand or collapse the Site panel:

Click the Expand/Collapse button on the Site panel toolbar.

Note: If you click the Expand/Collapse button to expand the panel while it is docked, the panel maximizes so that you cannot work in the Document window. To return to the Document window, click the Expand/Collapse button again to collapse the panel. If you click the Expand/Collapse button to expand the panel while it is floating, the panel remains a floating panel, and you can still work in the Document window. Before you can dock the panel again, you must first collapse the panel.

To switch sites:

In the Site panel, choose a site from the Site pop-up menu.

Note: To define a site, see Setting up a Dreamweaver site.

To use the integrated file browser:

In the Site panel file tree, click the plus sign (+) beside Desktop.